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The Rabindranath Tagore-founded Visva-Bharati, the only Central university in West Bengal, for the first time in its 100-plus years of history, is seeking to formally build a bridge between academia and industry, one of the main ideas being to boost employment opportunities for its students. Titled Confluence 2025, the event will be held on November 6 and 7 at the university’s Lipika Auditorium. Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar will be the chief guest. Other attendees will include All India Council for Technical Education Chairperson T.G. Sitharam, Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, Institute for Social and Economic Change Chairman Ashok Dalwai, and Consul General of China in Kolkata Xu Wei. Companies to be represented include, among others, the Reliance Group, the Adani Group, the Tata Trusts, Accenture India, ITC Limited, and Indorama India. “The 1st Industry-Academia Meet is designed to provide a collaborative platform where academia and industry seamlessly converge to foster learning, adaptability, and growth. By forging meaningful partnerships through placements and research collaborations, our aim is to bridge the divide between academic excellence and industry relevance,” the Visva-Bharati said in a statement on its website. “At the heart of this programme lies the aspiration to empower students to pursue their passions while equipping them with industry-relevant knowledge and skills. We recognise that the world is evolving rapidly, and this meet strives to keep our students at the forefront of this transformation. Hence, Visva-Bharati aims to create young batches of industry-ready students who will contribute to holistic development of the country,” the university said. “Confluence 2025 will be a consortium of heads of various multinational/national level companies and organisations providing a platform for the exchange of ideas and best practices. It will also set the stage exclusively for students and scholars to meet their potential employers who would guide them on career prospects, provide information on placements, internships, training and immersion opportunities,” it added. “Although it is the first time, we received a good response. About 55 industries have confirmed…We have kept a panel discussion and interaction of the students with the industry… There will be 12-15 stalls from the industry side, for which we have got the confirmation, and hopefully, it will be increased further, maybe to the extent of 20-25 [stalls]. This meet will be continuing every year, maybe in December or January. This is how we will connect with the industries, different stakeholders, maybe in terms of the facility, in terms of the collaboration in partnership. Also, students will get benefited in terms of the placement, in terms of internship, in terms of the startups and information. This is what is our plan,” Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Probir Kumar Ghosh, who assumed office in March, said in a video statement posted on YouTube.
